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Pinkerton Place plan gets board approval in Derry

DERRY - The planning board recently approved architectural plans for a 9,000-square-foot retail building at the Pinkerton Place at 19 Manchester Road.

The plaza is home to the Woof Meow pet store, Panera and Goodwill.

"When the planning board approved the Pinkerton Place project, there was a fourth store that was also approved on Ashleigh Drive just before the new Walmart entrance on the right," said town planning director George Sioras. "The building was approved in February 2011 with the requirement that they come back before the planning board to show an architectural rendering of what the building would look like."

The building could accommodate up to five retail tenants, according to Sam Amato of Jewett Construction, the contractor on the project.

The planning board unanimously approved the architectural plans, although there were some questions raised about the rear of the building.

"The back of the building looks pretty boring," said Town Administrator John Anderson.

When customers come out of the Goodwill store or Panera, he said there is no signage to distinguish what is in the building.

"You're presuming that 90 percent of your clientele is coming in off Ashleigh Drive," said Anderson. "Isn't the idea to incorporate the whole plaza into one (development)?"

Amato said those were the plans the building owner wanted to move forward with, but that he would approach the owner with the request to make the back of the building more visible.

Sioras also noted that there have been recent fire department issues where the fire department has come to the back of a plaza-type building without proper signage.

"There was an issue at Papa Gino's a couple of months ago at Hood Plaza where the truck went to the back of the building and at some of the back doors, there wasn't signage," he said.

Anderson said the owners should at least consider signage on the westerly side of the back of the building.

"It strikes me that you are losing the opportunity to enhance the look of the back of the building," he said.